The Truth Will Set You Free
by giftofamber
Summary: After everyone returns from Neverland, Ruby and Kathryn set Emma up on a blind date with Regina. When Ruby adds a potion she got from Mr. Gold to Emma's drink, hilarity ensues. One-shot for Swan Queen Week. Warning: Mild reference to Regina's marriage to Leopold being nonconsensual.


A/N: For Swan Queen Week on tumblr:

* * *

"Here Emma, drink this," Ruby shoved a glass containing a dark purplish-blue liquid into Emma's hands without explaining further. Her eyes twinkled as she thought about the fun that her friend was going to have and the blackmail tapes she would have later. She couldn't wait to see the look on Emma's face when she discovered who her blind date was and planned to video tape it for posterity.

Emma gazed at the drink suspiciously, but takes a sip anyway. With her mouth still full, she asks, "What is this? Ruby? Spicy Kool-aid?"

"It's just something that will help you relax. I got it from Mr. Gold," Ruby laughed, "Don't worry. I didn't tell him who I was giving it to."

"Mr. Gold? I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Emma put the glass back down on the dresser and twirled in front of the full-length mirror, checking herself out, "Do you think these jeans make me look fat?"

"Emma, you are not wearing jeans to a blind date," Ruby announced. "Like a good friend, I brought you clothes you can borrow, and I'm even going to do your hair and makeup."

Emma looked stricken, "Makeup?"

"Yes, makeup. Just be thankful it's me helping you get ready and not your mother. At least I won't make you wear anything frilly," Ruby grinned, holding up a shirt and slacks combo of which she was sure even Emma would approve. The slacks were black satin and not as tight as Ruby normally wore her clothes. The shirt was a partially transparent red crochet lace that would tease all the right places while still covering her enough to not break any public decency laws. Ruby smiled, "Try it, for me."

When Emma had finished picking her jaw up off the floor, she nodded. Perhaps Ruby was right, and she should be taking this date more seriously. What if the woman she was meeting today was Ms. Right? She wanted to look nice, but she got nervous when she wore dress clothes. She'd even refused the Sherriff's uniform when she had gotten her job, preferring her leather jacket and jeans. She guessed the anxiety was what that drink was for and grabbed the clothes from Ruby before disappearing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Sure enough, the clothes felt like a second skin, and she smiled at herself in the mirror, "You clean up nice, Emma Swan."

Ruby pounded on the door, "You haven't died in there, have you? Lemme see. Lemme see….oof."

As Emma opened the door, she found her young friend suddenly on top of her, nose to nose. Her cheeks colored as she realized just where the waitress's hand had fallen, but managed to choke out, "Here, I thought you were straight."

A lightbulb went off in Ruby's head as she registered the awkwardness of the situation, for Emma, anyway. Ruby got up, but not before playfully copping a feel, "I don't like labels."

Emma smirked raising an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Ok, yes, I'm straight, sadly, and pathetically straight; doomed to the likes of a ship captain who only wears one outfit or a thief who abandoned my best friend in her time of need. Storybrooke doesn't exactly have prime meat available for a single straight girl. You should feel sorry for me," Ruby grinned. "And by the way, you are going to knock her dead in that outfit. Time for hair!"

"Well I guess I can't really complain too much about the outfit, so what do you have planned for my hair?" Emma inquired, forcing her heart rate to slow back down to normal. She really had no interest in Ruby, who was at least 10 years her junior. All this proved was that she really needed to get laid. It was a good thing she had a date tonight with a woman who liked other women as much as she did, and she was keeping her fingers crossed for chemistry.

Ruby motioned for Emma to sit on the bed. When Emma complied with her request, Ruby sat down behind her and grabbed a fistful of hair, "I was thinking a french braid. It's simple, but it says you put a little effort into this, you know? Besides, just think about how much fun she'll have taking it apart."

"That's assuming it goes well. I've never met her before remember. What if it doesn't click or she hates kids or she expects me to do all the cooking? Or what if she's smart like Regina and puts me down all the time because I never finished high school?" Emma wondered aloud.

"I thought you liked your verbal spats with Regina," Ruby teased. She loved that Emma was clearly clueless, and she hoped that Kathryn was having the same luck with her charge.

Emma stuck her tongue out in a childlike fashion, "I do. And those skirts she wears, and her lasagna is to die for. Why can't Regina be gay? It would like solve everything."

Ruby was amused, "How do you know she's not?"

"Because of that stupid pixie dust! Tinkerbell was all 'Regina, you have to go out with Robin Hood. He's your True Love. He has a lion tattoo.' I have a lion tattoo, ok, so it's a dande-lion, but still," Emma pouted.

"Which is why you are going out tonight, no strings attached, with someone entirely unknown to you. Emma, I can't stand seeing you so depressed like this," Ruby deftly worked the braid using a comb and her fingers to make it look neat and presentable.

Naturally, Emma hadn't finished her rant, "I could get a tattoo of an actual lion if it's that big a deal. It's so unfair that she used that pixie dust before I was even born."

"Emma…"

"Right. No drooling over straight girls," Emma vowed, knowing that it was far too late for her. Why did the mother of her child have to be so attractive? She knew she had been subconsciously trying to sabotage this blind date because whoever this person was, she wasn't Regina Mills.

Ruby giggled, "Actually what I was going to say was that your braid is finished, and it's time for the finishing touches."

While Emma let Ruby apply makeup, which apparently included mascara, eyeliner, foundation, blush, and a red lipstick that matched the shirt, she let her mind wander to exactly what Regina would say if she saw her out with another woman tonight.

* * *

Nervously pretending to look at a menu, Regina Mills sat at a corner table in Granny's diner. She didn't like the prospect of a blind date, but Kathryn was right. To find someone who didn't care about who she had been in the Enchanted Forest and was willing to live in the here and now, Regina had to expand her dating pool. Even Rumplestiltskin had noticed she was lonely, and if someone was going to interfere in her love life, she distinctly preferred Kathryn over her son's biological grandfather.

Regina looked down to make sure that her outfit still looked as cleaned and pressed as when she had left the house and that no more than the prescribed number of buttons were undone. She could hear Kathryn's voice saying, 'You want to look interested, but not desperate.' The garter belt attached to her waist and to her thigh high stockings was a compromise as well. Regina had wanted to wear full length pantyhose, but Kathryn had insisted she would look too uptight, and Regina had just wanted her to shut up so that the night could finally be over. She would have agreed to just about anything.

After all, she knew that while she was still the most attractive woman in the town, she didn't have the advantage the Savior had of every eligible bachelor vying for her hand. It was all quite irritating the way Hook would interrupt her conversation with Emma just to make lewd comments or the way Neal would try to lay claim to her son to try to get in Emma's good graces. In some ways, she missed the days before the curse broke, when it was just the mayor going toe-to-toe with the sheriff and not the Evil Queen versus the Savior and her harem of bachelors.

She looked out the window, casually wondering about her upcoming date. Would they be punctual? Would they show up? Would they be human? Kathryn had been decidedly vague about the whole thing, even avoiding pronouns, as though Regina would guess who it was just from the world 'he.' Honestly, all she cared about was that the individual she would be dining with was not Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. She'd had enough of destiny for a thousand lifetimes.

Her ears perked up when she heard her name being called from across the room. She turned and did a double take because the woman standing before her was most definitely not Emma Swan. She said the first thing that came to mind, "Nice outfit."

"The leather jacket was at the drycleaners," Emma deadpanned. "No, really, I kind of have a date, and Ruby flat out insisted I dress up."

"Oh really? Where is he?" Regina asked, amused that Emma felt the need to explain herself.

Emma looked at her and took a deep breath, "She actually. My date is a woman, and I don't know where she is. Ruby had this grand idea to set me up on this blind date...what? Did I say something?"

Being the first to figure out their friends' scheme, Regina's normally olive face had turned ashen, and she was quickly losing feeling in her extremities. She somehow managed a reply, albeit a less than coherent one, "No...no….Kathryn…...blind date…...Emma?"

"Regina, I know I'm the slow one, but are you trying to say that Ruby and Kathryn set us up?" Emma asked befuddled.

Regina nodded, "Y-yes. She told me my date was someone who was more interested in my future than in my past."

"And Ruby told me my date was interested in women and would help me get over you," Emma said, putting her hand over her mouth as she realized what she had said.

The two women stared at each other until the silence was broken by a click and a flash of blinding light. They looked toward the light in unison, as Ruby called out, "Sorry. You'll thank me later."

"What would you say if we took this somewhere without prying cameras? Kathryn has Henry all night. We could go to the mansion and talk," Regina offered. She should probably end this farce right then and there. Snow White's daughter dating the Evil Queen...utterly ridiculous and absurd. Yet, something in those emerald eyes compelled her to take another look. Surely Kathryn had a solid reason for this? Ruby might do something like this for kicks, but Kathryn? She decided that she owed it to Kathryn to see where this date with Emma would lead, and she wanted to do it without the pressure of roving eyes.

Emma argued with herself over whether to offer to hold hands or stick her hands in her back pocket-that didn't exist because she wasn't wearing jeans. Something in the drink Ruby had given her earlier must have been kicking in because she confidently put her hand in Regina's and said, "I'd like that."

They drove separately so that Emma wouldn't have to pick her car up later, but Regina still slowed down periodically to make sure Emma was right behind her. It wasn't as though Emma didn't know the way, but they were both just out of it enough to make a wrong turn somewhere and end up at the town line or something. Regina tried not to think about the conversation awaiting them at the house as they pulled into the driveway one after another.

Emma turned off her ignition, locked her car, and sped for Regina's car door to open it for her. Her intent was about three-fourths chivalry and one-fourth anxiety that Regina would talk herself out of the date given too much time to herself. Having made it in time, she took a deep breath and helped Regina out of her car. She said, "I should probably warn you that Ruby gave me some kind of potion from Mr. Gold that was supposed to calm me down, I think. So if I said anything that made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry; I'm just not myself I guess."

"Ms. Swan, if you are finished with your incessant babbling, come inside, and I can heat up some leftovers for us to eat," Regina said. "Maybe it will get this 'potion' out of your system."

"Really? Because you are totally the best cook. Henry is always complaining that whatever I make doesn't taste right, and you're right, I'm babbling, and did you just call me 'Ms. Swan?'" Emma cursed her tongue, which couldn't seem to stay still. What she said and what she meant to say were two different things. She had meant to be polite and aloof and mysterious, but the more she tried, the more she babbled like the idiot Regina always said she was.

Opening the door, Regina couldn't help but smile at the compliment, "I was trying to lighten the mood a little. You seem tense."

"Just a little. You would be too if you were on a blind date with the woman you've been dreaming about for years even though you know you shouldn't because she would never be interested in an idiot like you who never even finished high school even if she did like girls, which I know she doesn't, but my brain keeps imagining that she has been staring at my ass when I'm not looking, and what did Gold put in my drink?" Emma paused for air as they had entered the kitchen.

"Well, from the symptoms, I would gather that Mr. Gold included a truth serum in the potion he gave Ruby. If I were my old self, I would take advantage of that knowledge to find out your deepest, darkest secrets to use them as blackmail at a later time," Regina tied her apron and took some containers out of the refrigerator. When she had placed their dinner on a baking sheet in the oven to warm up, she turned back to Emma, "But in the interests of showing you that I've changed, for every truth you tell me, I'll answer one of your questions honestly in return. Deal?"

With her feelings now in the open, Emma stared unabashedly at the sight before her, "Sorry, I was distracted by you wearing that apron and um, yes. Deal. Question: are you interested in women or was Ruby lying? And I'm not sure I can handle the answer, so just forget I asked and I'll come up with another one…"

"Emma, calm down and look at me," Regina took Emma's face in her hands. "Take a deep breath. The potion is feeding off of your anxiety."

Emma nodded and took a deep breath, not daring to speak.

Regina took her cue and continued, "As for your question, honestly, I've never given it much thought. In the Enchanted Forest, sex was a duty, and most people didn't really enjoy it, except for the True Love couples. What I liked or who I wanted to be with didn't matter, so I guess I just pushed things to the back of my mind."

"You know you aren't really selling me on this whole Enchanted Forest thing right? Regina, it matters. You matter. In this world, we have this important thing called consent. It means that no one should ever, ever feel obligated to have sex with someone they don't want," Emma told her from the bottom of her heart. She was starting to understand more and more where the 'Evil Queen' had come from.

"Why do you care so much after all I've done to hurt your family? To hurt you? Forget I asked that. I forgot about the truth potion for a second," Regina backtracked. She wanted to know the answer more than anything, but finding out through the potion seemed wrong somehow, even though it wasn't of her own making.

Her eyes glistening, Emma answered anyway, "Feelings aren't logical, Regina. People don't choose who they are attracted to or who they fall in true love with. I admit I don't have a lot of experience in this area, but love shouldn't be about keeping score. Do you keep a ledger of every time Henry says something hurtful?"

"Of course not. He's my son," Regina said softly, finally understanding where Emma was coming from.

Emma smiled back, "Yes, he is. And I gave birth to him. Is it so outrageous to believe I could have developed feelings for the woman who raised him to be a lovely little boy?"

"Well when you put it like that," Regina turned the oven off behind her. Dinner could wait. "I guess my answer is that I don't know if I like women, but I wouldn't be opposed to finding out for sure."

"So my next question is, would you be opposed to kissing me? There I said it," Emma smiled, trying to keep her anxiety from skyrocketing any further. "You are so beautiful."

Instead of answering, Regina closed the gap between them, pressing their lips together gently. She swore she felt fireworks go off inside her heart because it was beating so fast, and she found herself quickly addicted to the softness of Emma's lips. The moistness, the tangy taste that was just so deliciously Emma...was this what love felt like?

Emma was the one who pulled away first, "Verdict, your majesty?"

"Well that was um...I think we can make it work, provided of course you never ever call me 'your majesty' ever again," Regina chuckled playfully.

"Really?" Emma's stomach grumbled loudly. She looked at Regina sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

"You and your stomach," Regina shook her head. "Well I guess I better get you fed so you have energy for later."

"Later? Does that mean this date was a success then? I can't wait to tell Ruby, well not everything of course, just the totally PG parts," Emma blurted out happily.

Looking back into Emma's eyes, Regina agreed, "Yes, I believe this date was a success."

Emma winked back, "Just one thing. You get to tell my mother."


End file.
